Sunday, 9 April 2017

I spent two
weekends in March with my siblings and it gave us some time to gist, catch up
and bond again. One of us was getting married and there is nothing like a celebration
to get us going. Like my wife will say, we too like play.

In all of that
play, I noticed the week before that one of my siblings was sounding a bit
deeper than her usual self. You see as the first of five amazing children and
the “father” of the house as it were, I keep praying and asking God that He
grounds us all in His perfect will for our lives and cause my siblings to
develop the sort of relationship I have with Him or preferably something
deeper. So hearing one of them sound deep drew my attention and caused
something to leap on my inside, I could recognize that there was a change going
on somewhere.

As the
conversations kept going on, we eventually delved into church and allied
matters and then I found out what had changed.

My sister said she
currently never looks forward to Sunday service. That for me was a flag but her
next comments affirmed something that had shifted in me a very long time ago.
Now mind you, she worships with one of the very large assemblies in Nigeria
that have been very instrumental in getting the body of Christ in Nigeria where
it is today.

She said that
however there is this smaller group of people who meet sometime during the week
and she never would miss those meetings for anything in the world. She went
ahead to describe a meeting she missed and how it pained her that she was only
able to attend just one day of the three day meeting. She described with joy
how God gave her a word for the lady beside her and that as she wrote the word
down to pass to the lady, she was not even sure what she was doing as this was
something strange to her.

My dad was a
pastor and we grew up in a Christian home, so we were schooled in the “things”
of the spirit as it were. However, she had prior to this time not really walked
in the fullness of the workings of the gift of the spirit and here she was
giving a word from God to a total stranger. She said that after the service,
the lady came back to hug her and greet her and thank her. You can imagine her
joy and elation.

I can tell you
that my sister is not the same person I hung out with in December for my other
sister’s wedding. The babe is deep now mehn! Something shifted.

As we talked
some more, it became obvious that there was a thirst in her heart for more of
God which wasn’t being met in her local assembly and God decided to fill that
vacuum Himself.

I am aware that
there are so many people out there like my sister who have a burning desire
within them for more of God. People who know that there is more to God than
what is currently obtainable in their local assembly and have been crying out
to God for more of Him. I want to assure you that God sees your heart and will
order your steps aright.

Like I shared
with some folks who met me privately with these questions, some of you want to
leave your local assembly to somewhere else because you feel you are not in the
right place. Before you make that move, ensure that that you should even be
moving in the first instance. Has God instructed you to leave? If He hasn’t,
you MUST stay put until He instructs you (I know how you must feel, trust me
I’ve… been there). David had to stay with Saul though attempts had been made at
his life on several occasions because it wasn’t yet time for him to be crowned
king over Israel, so like David, I advise you stay put.

But some of you
like my sister need to run away from where you currently are. I mean like
seriously run. And don’t give me that nonsense about it being your “family
church”, run for your dear life. There is an assembly where God is looking to
grow you, find them and grow or stay put and die.

I connected with
an assembly of brethren and have made tremendous progress ever since. The
church of God will continue to march on and the gates of hell cannot prevail
against it. You and I are the CHURCH, the assembly we decide to fellowship in
should be aimed towards growing the CHURCH. If you are not growing, then
scripture likens you to the heir who due to him still being a child is under
the care of servants until he/she attains the level of development where they
are able to handle what is rightfully theirs.

As leaders of
assemblies, your major drive should be to grow the CHURCH. When I say grow I
didn’t mean drive to increase number or attendance, NO. I meant growth as in
the people themselves growing.

I am proud of
the people my siblings are becoming and I pray that my God who has led them
this far in Him will continue to grow them Himself.